Beaded Jewellery, Crystal For April & Easter
30th March 2025
See us next Sunday at the Norwich Bead Fair, at the George Best Western Hotel, Arlington Lane, NR2 2DA- 11am to 4pm. Free entry & refreshments!
MrBead Shop: https://mrbeadshop.com. For all shows this year, click Bead Fairs 2025
Content:
Postage Increase
The Beauty Of April With Beaded Jewellery
Easter Elegance – Fun With Easter Jewellery
Diamonds – April’s Gemstone
Cubic Ziconia
Quartz Crystal – April’s Alternate Stone
20-Years Of Beady Newsletters
Beads Up North
Bead Fairs Of 2025
Join Newsletter
We’re getting popular on Instagram! Tweet a link to all your followers – just click here. Join our 15,000 fans and follow us on Twitter at MrBead@UKMrBead and Nigel at Nigel@NigelMckay
15% Off All From MrBead
Enjoy 15% off anything with no minimum order. Shipping is free too on UK orders over £40. International shipping from £7.99.
Can only be used at the NEW shop & not with any other coupon. To get the discount Key NORWICH at checkout now, as offer ends Friday 4th April 2025. Use at https://mrbeadshop.com.
Postage Increase From 6th April
Once again Royal Mail are increasing postage on 6th April – the 6th time in 3-years. We absorbed most of the precious rises and make a loss on shipping – so this time we must increase P&P from £2.99 to £3.50 on UK orders under £40 (from 6th April).
All UK orders over £40 will still go cost POST FREE!
International orders anywhere in the world, by fast airmail, will increase £0.50p to £8.50 on orders up to £49.99; £14 up to £99 order; and a maximum of £20 (US$26) on all orders over £100.
The Beauty of April with Beaded Jewellery
April is a time of renewal, creativity, and fresh beginnings. As nature awakens with blooming flowers and the promise of warmer days, it’s the perfect season for jewellery makers.
Whether you design delicate earrings, statement necklaces, or whimsical bracelets, each piece tells a story of renewal and beauty. Use crystal or glass beads that mimic the sparkle of diamonds, the birthstone of April.
Spring-Inspired Beading Ideas
• Floral Motifs – Capture the essence of blooming flowers with beaded designs inspired by daisies, tulips, and cherry blossoms.
• Pastel Palettes – Use soft hues like lavender, mint green, and baby pink to reflect the gentle, fresh tones of spring.
• Nature-Inspired Themes – Incorporate earthy elements such as wooden beads, seed beads, or gemstone beads that represent the beauty of nature.
• Layered Bracelets – Mix and match different bead textures and colours to create stackable bracelets perfect for springtime outfits.
• Crystal Accents – Use faceted beads that catch the light beautifully, mimicking the brilliance of April’s birthstone.
Tips for Making Stunning Beaded Jewellery
• Experiment with Materials: Combine glass, wooden, seed, and metal beads for contrasts.
• Play with Patterns: Try different beading techniques such as peyote stitch, wire wrapping, or stringing for added dimension.
• Personalize Your Pieces: Add charms, initials, or birthstone-coloured beads to create meaningful jewellery.
• Quality Matters: Use high-quality beads and durable stringing materials to ensure longevity.
Easter Elegance – Fun With Easter Jewellery
Easter Sunday is 20th April 2025. Easter is a time of celebration and renewal – embrace this spirit by creating your own Easter jewellery.
Design Ideas:
Easter Egg Delight
Create a vibrant and playful necklace or bracelet by stringing together semi-precious beads in the shape and colours of Easter eggs.
Spring Garden Bracelet
Combine floral-themed beads like jade or peridot to mimic a spring garden. Mix smaller beads in contrasting colours for a lively and fresh look.
Pastel Harmony Earring
Craft a pair of elegant earrings using pastel-coloured semi-precious beads arranged in a gradient pattern. Finish them off with small charms for a touch of sophistication.
Faithful Cross Necklace
Design a necklace with the spiritual aspect of Easter – using semi-precious beads in calming hues, accented by a central cross pendant.
Bunny Hop Bracelet
Feature adorable bunny-shaped beads or charms along with complementary beads to create a bracelet that captures the joy of Easter.
Materials Needed
1. Pastel shades of beads, like rose quartz, aquamarine, or amethyst for the Easter palette.
2. Suitable jewellery wire or elastic cord.
3. Clasps and findings to secure you pieces together.
4. Pliers to help cut wire and securing clasps.
5. Charms or pendants to add an extra layer – like Easter eggs, bunnies, or crosses.
EASTER BEADS
Easter’s a great time to sell jewellery – spring has arrived, and buyers are keen for new designs. There’s also many spring fairs for you to sell at.
Bunny, egg designs and flower beads are great. Light yellow, green, or anything pastel. Hight key and enlightening. Resurrect your old non-sellers, by taking apart and adding different beads for a new design.
Choose pastel colours and mix them to make a bright, light, design. Pearls are also popular this time of year, along with all types of crystal and jade.
These all produce a bright, high-key look. White, yellows, greens and pinks look good, giving a spring-like feel. Colourful seed beads can be used to cover eggs and other objects to give an Easter look.
Give a loved one a pearl necklace for an Easter present – she’s look great wearing it on Easter Day. Flower bead bracelets and earrings are so easy to make too. Happy Easter!
See Our Pink Beads
See Our Pearl Beads
See Our Flower Beads
For ideas, see what others are making this Easter on Elsy
Custom Cards Made By Valentina
Our good customer Valentina & Pete, cleverly make custom greeting cards. Each card is handcrafted in 3-dimentions. A beautiful boxed gift.
To order, follow Valentina of Facebook – click Valentina Silova.
DIAMOND APRIL’S GEMSTONE
April’s birthstone is diamond. With myths of romance, power, greed, and magic. Diamond is a symbol of love and the hardest naturally-occurring substance.
Diamonds are similar to graphite, both crystalline forms of carbon. The difference is their carbon atoms. Graphite atoms are in sheets that easily slide past each other. Diamond crystals, are a tight-fisted network of atoms securely held in four directions.
Diamonds were formed over 3-billion years ago inside the Earth’s crust. The majority are extracted in Africa by miners paid a dollar a day. 
The second-largest miner of diamonds is Russia – so economic sanctions will hike prices. However, the world’s largest jeweller, Pandora, switched from natural to lab-grown diamonds.
More Ethnical Diamonds
At one time De Beers controlled all the world’s diamonds. By stockpiling, they increased the value of a relatively-common rock. However, artificially grow diamonds are possible – using high pressure and temperature in ‘growth chambers’, the size of a washing machine.
Chemically they’re identical to mined diamonds – but have different growth patterns and a lack of inclusions that would draw suspicions to a jeweller.
CUBIC ZICONIA
Cubic Zirconia is a cheap way of making a stone look like diamond. Formed at high-temperature and crystallizes into chunks similar to rough diamonds. By looking, even a trained jeweller can’t detect the difference between good cubic zirconia or diamonds.
Click for our cubic zirconia rings.
QUARTZ CRYSTAL – APRIL’S ALTERNATE STONE
Diamonds are too expensive for most jewellery, but a gemstone with similar characteristics for April is quartz crystal.
The Mayans, Druid priests, and Tibetan monks knew the spiritual power of crystal. They used it to strengthen the sun’s rays to bring heat – and the Chinese science of feng-shui teaches that arranging crystals around the home retains positive energy.
Crystals were important to these people because of the belief in their capacity to store and amplify any power source fed into them – physical, mental, emotional, or spiritual.
Today’s crystal therapists say that the stones’ ability to work as a conductor allows energy to be focused via a person’s thoughts to stimulate healing.
Many people use crystal to focus attention on what they want. With a little imagination, you too can use crystal’s energy to access a higher level of consciousness and turn a desire into reality.
All types of crystal have this magical power, but individual colour crystal is believed to have other uses too.
Rose quartz, the stone of unconditional love, is for emotional healing. Red, yellow, and orange stones are said to produce energy; clear and aquamarine stones are healers; and lavender and blue-violet are calming.
Pure rock crystal is clear, but usually quart comes in a variety of opacity. Rutilated quartz has tiny inclusions inside the rock.
Milky quartz is cloudy because of fluid embodied in the crystal – creating an attractive effect of a crystal within a crystal, giving the interior a ghostly appearance. Smoky Quartz is caused by natural radiation from nearby granite rocks.
Click for our Crystal Beads
Our Quartz Beads
East Sussex Bead Fair Report
As always, this was a busy show with many visitors (some from over 1 1/2-hours away), and many sales. Alfriston is a beautiful village, with a beautiful hall – however, parking is a problem. So, maybe next year, we might change the hall to a more practicable location.
After the show we visited the nearby National Trust’s Sheffield Park, and a seafood dinner in Worthing
20-Years of MrBead Newsletters
2005 to 2025
The MrBead Newsletter started April 2005, so April 2025 is the 20th full year of publication. To see the past newsletters click here. I hope some of these will inspire you to make more jewellery.
I’m always short for ideas to write about – so if you have suggestions, or would like to be featured (with a link to your Facebook or website), just email me, thanks, Nigel.
If you’re reading this and haven’t subscribed, please enter your email address at the below link – we never spam, and you can un-subscribe any time.
To see all the original old newsletters click here.
To sign-up for the free newsletters click http://www.mrbead.com/beadnewsletter.htm.
Beads Up North
See us Sunday 13th April at Beads Up North, Haydock Racecourse, Newton-Le-Willows WA12 0HQ – just off the M6, between Manchester & Liverpool. The largest gathering of beaders in the UK! Big show with many traders selling all crafts, and jewellery-making workshops. Full refreshments.
Learn how to make an Easter Beady Egg at Beads Up North, Haydock Racecourse, Sunday 13th April. Not to be missed!
Save money buying pre-booked tickets (also available at the door on the day) – click Beads Up North Tickets.
Enjoy a Bead Fair Soon!
Bead shows are great fun – you’ll love them! Bring a trolley, as beads get heavy. Take some cash for a weak signal on card payments. Talk to vendors and visitors to inspire new design ideas. Make a note of what you paid, and keep exhibitors’ business cards and leaflets.
Bead Fairs Of 2025
Sunday 6th April: Norwich Bead Fair, George Best Western Hotel, Arlington Lane, Newmarket Rd, Norwich NR2 2DA
Sunday 13th April: Beads Up North, Haydock Racecourse, Newton-Le-Willows WA12 0HQ
Saturday 10th May: Oxfordshire Bead Fair, Hornton Pavilion, Hornton, Banbury, OX15 6DB
Sunday 11th May: London Luton Bead Fair, Stockwood Hotel, Castle Street, Luton LU1 3SS
Saturday 17th May: New Forest Bead Fair, Brockenhurst Village Hall, Highwood Road, Brockenhurst SO42 7RY
Sunday 18th May: Welsh Bead Fair, Redwick Village Hall, Church Row, Redwick, Caldicot NP26 3DE
Sunday 25th May: Cornish Bead Fair, Probus Village Hall, Barn Court, Probus TR2 4NB
New venues at North Yorkshire, Penrith, Windsor and Swindon. For this years full list, click: 2025 Bead Fairs.
15% Off All From MrBead
Enjoy 15% off anything with no minimum order. Shipping is free too on UK orders over £40. International shipping from £7.99.
Can only be used at the NEW shop & not with any other coupon. To get the discount Key NORWICH at checkout now, as offer ends Friday 4th April 2025. Use at https://mrbeadshop.com.
MrBead Newsletter:
20 Years of Beading Newsletters 2005 to 2025. See all at Old MrBead Newsletters.
SubscribeUnsubscribe